


Because A Girl Like You Is Impossible to Find

by Katybug1992



Series: You're the Man, But I Got the Power [5]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Can be read as a stand alone, F/M, Female Nolan Patrick (mentioned), Women in the NHL, female claude giroux, fluffy and soft, with a sprinkle of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25152469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: There never had been and there never would be another girl like Claude-Marie Giroux. And Sid would hold onto her forever.Because a girl like G was impossible to find.
Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Claude Giroux
Series: You're the Man, But I Got the Power [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821067
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	Because A Girl Like You Is Impossible to Find

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade

1.Walls

The relationship started off rocky, to say the least. Claude-Marie Giroux was guarded. She didn’t let people in easily.

He knew she had been hurt before, screwed over before. He knew there was extra shit that she went through that he couldn’t begin to understand. And he knew she needed time. Time to realize that he wasn’t going away. Time to realize that he was well on his way to being in love with her. Time to realize that she deserved to be loved and treated like the amazing person she is. 

And Sid would spend the rest of his life thanking her for letting her walls down for him. Because he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.

2.Smile

Her smile swept him off his feet. He remembers the first time he saw it - her real one. Not her media smile. Not her celly smile. Her actual smile. 

She had been talking to Briere while the ice was being cleaned during a commercial time out and she was leaning against the board. 

And Sid choked on his breath. And he had known, from that first face-off, that she was beautiful. But that smile? He wasn’t prepared for it. And Geno gave him a concerned look and he tried shrugging it off, but knew the Russian didn’t buy it. He then looked at Sid with wide eyes and raised eyebrows when he saw what had caused that reaction.

And, all these years later, she still managed to take his breath away when she directed it at him.

3\. Eyes

Claude-Marie’s eyes were a shade of green that Sid didn’t think should actually exist in the world. It wasn’t fair for someone to possess eyes that could suck him in and captivate him the way hers could.

They were bright when she was happy. They held storm clouds when she was pissed. They usually shone with the same mischievous energy that carried Claude-Marie through life.

And he got lost in them every time. He didn’t think that would ever change. He hoped that never changed. 

4\. Adventure

She was more adventurous than him in many ways. He was content to spend his Summers in Cole Harbour. Claude-Marie wanted to experience everything the world had to offer. Their first off-season after they officially got together, she dragged him to Japan and made him leave his meal plan at home. Since then, she would spend her free time during the season planning a trip for the summer. And she picked up languages fast, so she was almost near fluent in whatever language was spoken in the country they were going to.

When they had overlapping days off, she would have him meet her at whatever smalltown or roadside attraction she had stumbled across. 

If they had overlapping days off in the same city, she dragged him somewhere there. His first off day in Philly, she shoved him in her car and took him to all her favorite spots. He ended up returning the favor when she came to Pittsburg. Since then, she added things to her list for both cities - even going so far as to not go to a place in Philly just so she could experience with him for the first time. It was rare that they ended with overlapping off days in cities that weren’t their home cities, but when that did happen she was prepared. In Denver, they went to the art museum and a restaurant that had a rock wall in it. In Anaheim, they went to Disney. And Sid actually liked not fully knowing what to expect.

His favorite trip had been Greece. The food had been good, the site seeing was fun and interesting, the hotel they stayed in quaint and perfect (he went bright red when he figured out that the little old lady who ran the hotel had said to him was that if they made a baby at the hotel, they had to name it after her - Claude-Marie had laughed at him when she translated it for him later, especially since he had nodded and said the only Greek he knew, which was “Nai” and meant yes). But his favorite was seeing her on the beach, long hair down, teal bikini complimenting her so perfectly as she spun around and pulled him into the Mediterranian. 

She was also more adventurous with food than he had ever been. He had his set meal plan, his set recipes he made, and he didn’t deviate from it unless she made him. Whenever they went on their trips, he was told to leave the meal plan at home or at the hotel. He had experienced many first foods with her. But his favorites were whenever she didn’t really know what she had ordered. But she never hated whatever it was, ate all of it and sometimes ordered more. Sid occasionally had to be coaxed into trying it.

She played more with recipes than he would ever dream of doing. Recipes were for following, not for improv-ing. And most times, whatever she was making turned out good. Other times, it would not and she would laugh and order delivery. One memorable instance she was trying to recreate a dish they had had in Singapore and to say it did not go well would be an understatement.

She had laughed as complained about her ruining one of his pans as she pulled her phone out to pull up the Thai place she liked in Pittsburgh. This hole in the wall place that didn’t deliver but Sid would gladly go to get it because he had Claude-Marie Giroux sitting on his kitchen island in nothing more than one of his button ups and he wanted to keep her that way.

Claude-Marie pushed him to try new things in bed, too, to most positive results. Some things he knew he wasn’t into. But others he had been pleasantly surprised - especially when she took control, teasing him for what felt like hours. Some times she let him touch her, other she cuffed him to the bed. He especially loved it, though, when she let him completely dominate her from start to finish. When she let him call all the shots, manhandle her into whatever position he wanted her in, let him dictate the pace. He didn’t like it because of the reason most guys would like (and he’d seen the comments made about her - just because he wasn’t on social media didn’t mean he wasn’t ON social media). He liked it because it meant that she trusted him, that he had earned her trust. And that meant the world to him.

5.Wrists

Her wrists were a sore spot for a long time. And when they first started messing around - before anything was official - she didn’t want him touching them. She would flinch or get fidgety if he got too close. 

He knew he had finally earned her trust when she gently took his hand and placed it on her wrist, looking him in the eye with an open, vulnerable expression.

And he had responded by pulling it up and pressing a kiss to it, then to her other wrist. And she bit her lip to hide her smile before kissing him softly.

6.Flirting

Claude-Marie wasn’t an overt flirt. She didn’t go out of her way to flirt. But when she put her mind to it, she was incredible. And she quickly learned that one of the quickest way to get her way with him was to flirt with him, especially if she knew he wouldn’t like it.

It’s how she got him to come with her to dinner with Hartnell the first time, a week into the relationship. It’s how she got him to take a cheat day when it came to his diet plan. It’s how she got him to agree to some of the lamer couple photos they’d taken. He let her flirt him into Mickey Ears (his Snow White themed, her’s Tinkerbell) for a picture when they were at Disney. He let her flirt him into letting her climb onto his shoulders for a picture on the beach in Florida when they were there for their Bye Week one year. He let her flirt him into matching outfits for the NHL Awards Red Carpet (when they were making their couple debut) - matching his tie to her dress like they were going to Prom. He let her flirt him into dinner with the full Briere experience and he ended up with many, many bruises from the street hockey game where the boys ganged up on him and thoroughly embarrassed him.

And she was ceaselessly amused at how terrible at flirting he was. He could be smooth. He knew it and she knew it. His words got to her. But he couldn’t do what she did. He couldn’t shoot a smile and flattery at someone and get them to do what she wanted. But - when he wasn’t the target - he loved watching her. He loved watching her flirt with the media, watching her dance her away around questions with an ease that had always seemed to come naturally to her.

7\. Cocky

She was cocky and Sid loved it. He loved game days against Philly. He loved the air she had around. He wished he could see her on every game day.

He loved taking the faceoffs against her. She knew where the line was when trying to throw him off and she danced it beautifully.

“Gonna sit on your face tonight.”

“Got off before leaving the room thinking about what you’re gonna do to me tonight.”

“Wanna tie you down and ride you.”

And she always smirked at him when she succeeded, eyes signing with mischief and he loved her so much. However, the first time it happened, he jaw had dropped, his eyes widened, and he looked over at the ref - who was standing right there! - shocked that she would say something like that in front of their teammates, let alone a referee. And she had easily won the draw, shoot him smirk and a wink over her shoulder.

God, he loved how cocky she was.

8\. Injury

He hated seeing her hurt. Whenever she went down, he didn’t breathe easily until she was back up and then back on the ice for her next shift.

But as much as he hated watching her go down, he hated even more checking his phone after a game to a text from Briere, or Hartnell, just saying “She’s fine” and giving him no other details.

And that was nothing compared to a text from Briere saying “Call me”. Because that meant that something had happened that Claude-Marie would have brushed off but was, in fact, worse than she wanted anyone to know.

He knew that she was the same way when he was hurt. When he was out with concussions, she was with him as often as possible. They had talked about him recovering in Philly, so she could help him more - but also because she was more worried than she wanted anyone to know.

Neither of them reacted well to the other being injured - and the person who caused the injury was immediately added to their shit lists.

9\. French

Sid could listen to her speak in French all day. And he understood the basics - to an extent. But he did not understand it when it was spoken rapidly. He got lost very quickly when she started in with Flower and Tanger. She gave him French pet names that had every French-speaker they knew laughing and he was scared to ask what she was calling him, unsure of if he wanted to know but liking the fond smile on her face when she said them - her favorite was “mon oie” with sparkling eyes and a little smirk.

He worried, at the beginning, about Danny Briere. Because he knew how close they were. And she only talked to Danny in French when they spoke on the phone. The words falling rapidly from her mouth made no sense to him, but he could always tell when the phone was handed to one of the Briere boys. Who also called her at random times - she was always the one to leave the room when that happened, her words still French, but softer in tone.

His favorite thing was finding her singing in French softly to herself - usually when she was cooking or cleaning, before she noticed he had entered the room.

He did have a special nickname for her, one he had Tanger to thank for after she had spent a night talking about Claude Marie - “Ma Petite Etoile”. The first time he called her that, she blushed and looked down at her feet to try to hide the pleased smile. That was when he vowed to never stop calling her that.

10\. Tattoo

She had a small tattoo on her hip, a small fleur-de-lis, hidden right under her waistline. She had gotten it when she turned eighteen and had successfully hidden it from her mother for a year-and-a-half.

And Sid loved it. He always made a point to press his lips to it when undressing her.

She always smiled down at him fondly - albeit impatiently. Because no one would ever accuse Claude-Marie Giroux of being patient.

11\. Rivalry

One thing they never let get in the way of their relationship was their hockey rivalry. They brought it every time they faced each other. But they tended to keep hockey as away from the lives off ice as they could. If it was brought up, it was either playfully or they were have a serious talk - because being a Captain was fucking hard and G was the only female Captain in the League and that was a lot of pressure on her shoulders. 

But sometimes the frustrations the on ice rivalry carried with it came out in bed with fantastic results. Because Claude-Marie needed to prove that she was his equal. And, while he didn’t need her to prove it (he had known she was his equal from that first face-off), he loved watching her prove her.

On and off the ice.

12\. Kids

He didn’t know why it surprised him that kids adored Claude-Marie. Or why it surprised him that she was so good with them. The number of times they had been out together and stopped wasn’t surprising. But seeing Claude-Marie interacting with the children - especially the little girls - took his breath away. Because she was a role model to those girls and she never forgot that (aside from that time she got arrested).

She always made sure to get pucks to the little girls gathered by the glass, always careful to interact with them. She organized a girls hockey camp that the Flyers ran every summer, the week before training camp, and she was there every day of the camp. She was outspoken on the issues she faces being a woman in the NHL.

She’s basically a stepmom to Briere’s boys, even with them all grown up. They show up at her place randomly, they call her at all hours, she will and has dropped everything for them. 

She’s incredible with her sister’s kids, probably showing off pictures.

And he can’t wait to see her with their kid. A little girl with her mother’s hair and eyes. God, he wants as many mini-Claude-Maries as she’s willing to have. He wants a hockey team's worth. Maybe they can adopt as well. His house is certainly big enough. But that timeline is for her to decide since it’s her career it’ll effect. But, god, he wants a family with her so much it hurts.

13\. Lust

The relationship started from a place of Lust. He remembers her running her mouth, zipping around the ice, and not giving a fuck who he was. And he wanted her. He wanted her in a way he had never wanted anyone else. He was transfixed.

He was also thoroughly surprised to get her in his bed. Because he definitely was not one of the women in the League who had that kind of reputation.

He also made the mistake of mentioning that to her as they were both coming down from their orgasms and got a wicked glare in response before she flung herself off the bed and got dressed, leaving him staring at the spot she had just been.

They had become fuck buddies along the way. And she blew his mind every time. 

14\. Mother Hen/Mamma Bear

Nolan Patrick was Claude-Marie’s rookie, which meant that she was basically Claude-Marie’s daughter (and with how similar she was to Rookie G, Sid would have considered the possibility if it wasn’t actually impossible - although Konecny was also so much like G, too…)

And Sid enjoyed watching Claude-Marie fuss over Nolan, the younger girl sitting in the desk chair letting G do her hair while glowering at Konecny - who was taking pictures that would probably end up in the Flyer’s group chat. The four of them would be going to dinner together - although Sid didn’t agree with that part, he was just informed (because Nolan needed to TK to take her somewhere nice once in a while and TK needed to learn how to act at a nice restaurant - she had then reverted to muttering to herself in French and Sid did not want to know).

Claude-Marie also fiercely defended Nolan from the world. From players on the ice, from the media, from random citizens who thought they had anything valid to say to her. And Sid did have to wrestle her phone away from her a couple times so that she didn’t humiliate anyone on Twitter and get herself in to trouble - and he hoped someone did that when he wasn’t there to (hopefully Coots - but he was also one of G’s enablers, damn Frenchies).

But if she was Mother Hen to Nolan Patrick, she was a fierce Mamma Bear with the Briere boys. She would and could defend those boys, she would sacrifice herself for them and completely eviscerate whatever the threat to them was.

Sid remembered a time that he was staying at hers and the youngest Briere boy called her, asking her to pick him up. She had left without a second thought and returned with him almost an hour later, sending his drunk underaged self up to the spare room with a promise to talk to Danny and then deal with it in the morning. She then called Danny and defended Cameron with the same fire she used when defending her team. Not that Sid understood a word of it.

The next morning he had gotten up to find her side of the bed empty and wanted down to find her. He found her in the kitchen, cradling a cup of fresh coffee, leaning against her kitchen island, Danny Briere next to her, both of them speaking gently to Cameron in French - Claude-Marie elbowing Danny sharply everytime he raised his voice.

But she didn’t always take the kids’ side. One memorable instance was when Carson had disappeared. Danny and Sylvie both thought he had gone to Claude’s but when they called her, she told them he wasn’t. It sent all three of them into a panic. Danny told her she should stay at hers. Since Carson had run off after a fight with both Danny and Sylvie, he would probably get to hers eventually. And Sid was powerless to comfort her as she paced.

When a knock came, she threw open the door and actually let out a sob when she saw Carson there. She pulled him close and began crying in full, repeating the words “Don’t do that to me again. Never do that to me again” as she hugged him. Sid ended up calling Danny for her.

The boys also like to try to put her in the middle. When they were having disagreements with either parent, they would complain to G. She allowed it because they needed someone to vent to, but she refused to get involved unless she had to.

And Sid worked hard to win them over, because Claude-Marie Giroux was their Mamma Bear and they were just as protective as her as she was of them.

15\. Drunk

Drunk Claude-Marie never ceased to make him smile.

When she was wine-drunk, she just wanted to sit on the couch and cuddle.

When she was tequila-drunk, she was horny and ready to go anywhere - he had lost count of the amount of times she had initiated phone sex while she had locked herself in a bar bathroom after two or three shots.

When she was beer-drunk she was the life of the party. Sid had received several videos from either Jake, Simmer, or Coots of G kicking everyone’s ass at Beer Pong - usually dressed like the frat boy she definitely was not.

But regardless of what kind of drunk she was, she still herself. So he still got all the goodnight texts and “i love you” text, drunk girl typos more endearing than they should be.

16\. Interior Decorating

They had very different styles. 

Sid was sleek and modern, a lot of black and white and “boring” patterns. Practical decorating.

Claude-Marie was wild colors, insane patterns, buying decor because she liked how it looked. Sometimes her house made Sid’s head hurt. It was very bohemian. But she managed to make it all fit together somehow.

And so when they decided to make Sid’s Cole Harbour house, theirs...they had some...color arguments over decorating. 

But Claude-Marie was happy with the final result. And that’s all that mattered.

Even if one of the upstairs bathrooms was a God-awful orange.

17\. Laugh

He would recognize her laugh anywhere - even before they became a thing. It was bright and airy and it was one of his favorite sounds. The first time he had caused it, he thought he might float away.

18\. Loud

Ask anyone for a one word description of Claude-Marie and you’d get the words “Hair” and “Loud”. And she was loud. She was constantly talking (even if she gave Konency shit for the same thing - God, he was so much like her when she was just coming into the League, it was a little scary), she always had something to say.

She’s loud in everything she does and he wouldn’t have her any other way, just another item of the checklist of how opposite they are from each other.

19\. Jealousy

Sid had never thought of himself as a jealous person. Never thought he would be. But Danny Briere had brought it out of him from that first moment. Because he knew every piece of Claude-Marie. And that scared Sid. Because Briere is probably the only person on the planet who could take her from him. It took a long time for him and Briere to be actually civil with each other.

And Briere was still one of the few people in Claude-Marie’s life that she would drop anything for. She had cancelled skype dates for Danny, never failed to answer the phone when he called, had an ongoing text thread with him. It didn’t help that when she spoke to him, it was usually in French that Sid had no chance of following.

And Danny Briere didn’t trust him with Claude-Marie at all at the beginning. And he told Sid as much. It was an issue for almost a year. And both men didn’t really make much of an effort with each other until Claude-Marie had yelled at Danny and stormed out of his house. 

Danny had called him shortly after, to talk through their issues. Because if there was one thing they agreed on, it was that Claude-Marie Giroux deserved the world. And, at the end of the day, Sid was so grateful she had someone in Philly who would burn down the world for her.

And it wasn’t like she didn’t have her moments of jealousy. She just didn’t react the way he did - keeping it in and glaring displeasure. No, she made her displeasure known...and her claim known. They had been to many a media event together. And without fail, when someone seemed to push past professionalism or friendly, she was there - fake smile in place, slipping her arm around him and leaning against him as he pulled her closer. 

And a little jealousy never hurt anyone. Because - at the end of the day - he was hers and she was his and they both knew that.

20\. Hair

Her hair was the first thing he noticed about, so similar to the color of her jersey when she was younger. It had gotten darker and longer through the years, more manageable for sure.

But no matter how much the color changed as she got older, it was still as wild as ever. It had a life of its own. A free-spirit like the person it was attached to. And he loved it.

He loved watching her try to tame it when they were going somewhere nice. 

He loved when the kept is down, sitting in the passenger seat of his truck, summer air breezing through the open window and making her hair dance and she sang along to the radio.

He loved when she threw it up into a messy bun before bed. Or into a ponytail when she worked out. Or the intricate braid it was in for games.

And he loved how her hair spent the entire game trying to escape from the braid.

He loved tangling his hands in her hair as he kissed her, and how she liked it pulled just a little bit. 

He loved waking up in the morning with the chance of some of it having gotten in his mouth while slept because if she barely had control of it when she was conscious, she had no control over it when she was asleep.

21\. Insecurity

A rule Danny had put in place when it came to Claude-Marie was that she needed to avoid her mentions and comment sections. And that, when she ignored that rule, she needed to talk to someone - it didn’t have to be Danny, but it had to be someone. Because her mentions were a mess. 

Every insecurity she had was highlighted and expounded upon.

Before he even got the shovel talk from Danny, he got the rundown of all the shit Claude-Marie goes through and puts up with on a daily basis. Because he needed to understand that. He needed to understand that, when news of the relationship broke, he wouldn’t be the one dealing with the fallout.

And he didn’t have to be on social media to know that people liked to shit on her. She was the sole reason the Flyers hadn’t won the Cup while she’d been on the team. She should have the C taken from her. She wasn’t a good leader or role model. She needed to be better. She was unladylike. She was too brash. She was too outspoken. She wasn’t pretty enough. She wasn’t enough.

And she always told him to ignore it. That she was fine, she could take care of herself. But it was hard when she clearly wasn’t fine.

So he did what he could. He held her close when they were together. He sent her flowers - sunflowers, because they were her favorite - when he knew she was buckling under pressure. He surprised her a couple times by showing up at her door on a day off when she had been having an extra bad couple of weeks. 

He did everything he could for her in those moments. Because Claude-Marie Giroux was his world. And she was the thing that mattered most to him. And he never thought anyone would knock hockey out of that top spot.

21\. Wedding Vows

In her vows she said, “I promise to love you always, but I will NEVER obey you” and Sid had laughed, every bit of his expression radiating fondness for the woman in front of him.

She had never let a man dictate what she could and could not do and she wasn’t going to let a silly thing like marriage change that.

22\. Singing

Claude-Marie wasn’t a bad singer, she just wasn't’ good. Not that Sid cared. And she definitely didn’t care. 

She sang all the time. She sang as she cooked, as she messed around on her phone. She belted along to the radio and sang quietly along with the music playing in the arena. 

She sang in shower. She sang to herself when she didn’t know he was listening, or thought he wasn’t paying attention.

She sang her heart out at concerts. Sid would happily tag along with her to any concert she wanted to go to if he got to watch her singing and dancing and so happy.

23\. Bossy

She was bossy and Sid would never let her hear him call her that. The last person who called bossy was Flower and the goalie was still a little on edge around her as a result of her reaction.

24\. City Girl

Maybe it was her roots as a small town girl, but Claude-Marie was alway more at ease in a city. She lived for the sounds and the rush and the sights. She lived for getting lost in crowds in a way Sid couldn’t relate to.

She liked the quiet of getting out of the city every once in a while, she didn’t mind their Summer home. But he could tell when she would start to get restless. Because Claude-Marie had never been able to stay still for long, and nothing was ever still in cities - especially Philly. 

25\. Love

Sid remembers when he first realized he loved her. They were curled under a blanket - well, Claude-Marie had draped herself over him - in front of the fireplace at Sid’s house. 

She had been half asleep and Sid was watching the light from fire dance across her face. And it hit him like a ton of bricks that he couldn’t see his future without her in it.

And that thought should have been scary. But, instead, he felt settled, content. Because he loved her. Why wouldn’t he always want her around?

26\. Proposal

He proposed to her in Prague. It was a city that meant a lot to them. It’s where they first got to play together. It was where they sat down and had the “DTR” talk. It was where she said “I love you” to him first.

So, while they were walking along the river, he got down on one knee and pulled out his grandmother’s ring and told her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And she had cried, said yes, then told him that if he told anyone she had cried, she would say he was lying.

He had laughed, slid the ring on her finger, and kissed her.

27\. Kissing

From the start, his favorite part of being with Claude-Marie was kissing her. 

He loved kissing her.

Just gently brushing his lips over hers as a morning greeting. The enthusiastic kiss when they saw each other in person for the first time in a long time. The biting kisses she gave him when she needed him to understand how the night was going to go.

Her kisses were full of life - just like her.

28\. Fighter

Claude-Marie Giroux did not need a man to fight her fights for her. She would take on anyone - hockey player, media, some rando on Twitter. 

And she was vicious - which she had passed down to Nolan, who had become more and more like her mentor than Sid had thought possible. It was a little scary to see them together.

She didn’t let any give her shit without giving it right back. And she had gotten better as she got older, most guys knew not to pick fights with her because she could and would destroy them, but that didn’t mean she would back down if the opportunity arose

And Sid enjoyed watching her run her mouth - always had, even when it was directed at him. 

Because she had always been the only person who would always tell him EXACTLY what she thought of him. And it had always been a breath of fresh air.

29\. Wedding Planning

Neither of them were prepared for the nightmare that was wedding planning.

At first they thought everything they had heard from friends and pop culture was exaggerated. 

Until it came time to put together the seating chart. There were Flyers and Penguins and Team Canada and other assorted players from the NHL, there was family and friends and children, and it was a lot.

Eventually they got it figured out, after a week of working on it non-stop. And hoping Ovi didn’t traumatize anyone.

30\. Dancing

Claude-Marie loved to dance. And she loved making Sid dance.

Whether it was a wedding - the only wedding he didn’t put up a little bit of fight when it came to dancing was their own - or a club, she pulled him out onto the dancefloor with her.

And as bad as he was at it, it was worth it to have her pressed against him. 

Least of all because it always earned them the brightest smile.

31\. Wedding Toasts

They had an open mic wedding toast option. It seemed like a good idea at the time but Sid instantly regretted as his teammates shared with everyone every single embarrassing thing he had done over the course of the relationship.

He was thankful that she got much the same treatment. But then Danny took the mic, his boys following him, and Claude-Marie had started tearing up before anyone began speaking.

And as the four of them gave their toasts - the mic being passed between them - they talked about how much she meant to the family and how happy they were that she had found Sid, regardless of how they felt about him in the beginning. And by the end of it, Claude was crying. She stood up and walked over to them hugging them tightly and thanking them.

And Sid smiled softly as the boys came over and shook his hand. They would never like him, at least they wouldn’t admit to it - but they approved of him, because he made their Claude-Marie happy. And that’s what mattered most to them at the end of the day.

32\. Unique

There never had been and there never would be another girl like Claude-Marie Giroux. And Sid would hold onto her forever. 

Because a girl like G was impossible to find.


End file.
